


Spanish Lessons

by Kiddik



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, One Shot, or try to at least, shane is crushin, shyan, skeptic believer, the boys speak spanish!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-28 22:07:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16731522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiddik/pseuds/Kiddik
Summary: Request:Ryan tries to teach Shane Spanish for the Mission Solano Ep.





	Spanish Lessons

“This is ridiculous!”

 

Ryan grinned, offering an innocent shrug, “Why?! I think it’s more inviting if we speak their native tongue. If you were a ghost and two strange men walked into _your_ home speaking a different language, would you come out?”

 

Shane rolled his eyes, trying to hide his amused smile with the palm of his hand. “Well, it wouldn’t really matter whether or not it’s more “inviting,”” He used his free hand to make air quotes, “because we’ll be talking to the dust, but sure. Okay!” Despite his berating, his eyes were bright and his tone was nothing short of playful.

 

Ryan shook his head, laptop in hand, walking over to the table Shane was slumped over, “Either way…” He pushed the computer to a slight angle so he could better see the taller man as they sat, “I think the fans will appreciate it! We dressed as pilgrims in Salem, we’ll speak Spanish when we’re at Mission Solano.”

 

“Mm, alrighty then. Teach me, Señor.” Shane sat back in his chair, his right arm staying comfortably draped atop the table.

  
Ryan didn’t look up from his laptop, only muttering a gentle, “Shut up, Shane,” as he sorted through his documents. His face was illuminated with a soft blue wash from the screen, skin glowing. The lights in Ryan’s dining room seemed to project stars into his dark eyes, his smile even brighter than usual.

 

Shane’s skin felt warm all of a sudden, and he rubbed the back of his neck to try to chase the blush away. 

Blush? Why was he blushing? What the fuck? Maybe he had been drinking too much beer when they rewatched The Shining? To be fair, he had never been fantastic at staying levelheaded even if he only indulged in a small amount. Still… He didn’t typically get rosy-cheeked, not this suddenly, at least…

 

“Okay! So, I thought we could start with a few easy things, ya know, the basics.” Ryan turned to face Shane fully, “What do you already know?”

 

“Uh…” Shane’s head was foggy, clouded by the weird internal line of questions he was throwing at himself because, really, why the fuck was he blushing? “I don’t know much. Hola, gracias, adios… Tacos?”

 

Ryan grimaced, not only was Shane’s accent bad – like _really bad_ – but he knew… to put it bluntly, _near nothing_. “Okay, well, at least you didn’t list off Chipotle’s menu, but, _yikes,_ dude.”

 

Shane raised his hands, defensively, “Listen! I know I’m pitiful, but I’m here to learn! Not to be harassed.”

 

The shorter man smirked, “Noted,” He scrolled down on his laptop, biting his lower lip, thoughtfully.

 

Maybe the A.C. wasn’t working? That could be it! 

Shane’s eyes flickered to the hall that held the thermostat, but he didn’t bother saying anything. Instead, he undid a few of the buttons on his flannel and pushed up his sleeves. It really _must_ be the room, yeah? But when he glanced back at Ryan, the man rubbing his hand across the soft stubble lining his chin, he felt the heat cross over him again.

_Shit_.

 

“Alright, repeat after me: _Me llamo…_ ”

 

Shane’s mouth was suddenly quite dry, voice shaky, “May hamo?”

 

Ryan opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again, an unmasked cringe falling over his features, “Uh… Kind of? Let's try this in parts. _Me_ ,”

 

“ _Me_.” Shane echoed.

 

Ryan nodded, “ _Llamo_.”

 

“Me llamo… Uh,” He looked away under the pressure of the gaze, “Shane?”

 

“There ya go!”

 

Shane didn’t look up, instead, he focused on the way his beer was sweating with condensation, “Sorry, man, I get kinda… self-conscious when speaking other languages, especially when I’m rusty.”

 

“Hey,” Ryan leaned forward, reaching out his hand. 

Shane’s eyes went straight to the approaching appendage, his breath catching in his throat.

“You don’t have to worry, dude. I’m not gonna bully you… _too much_.” He grinned, his hand hovering in midair for a moment before snagging up his beer. “I promise, you have nothing to worry about.”

 

“Thanks, Ry.” Shane’s fingers twitched as if disappointed by the lack of contact.

Fuck, this was _not good_.

 

* * *

 

“I brought taco bell!” Ryan smiled, brandishing the two bags proudly as he walked to Shane’s kitchen bar. 

 

“Oooh, yes! I’d say it was fitting for the occasion but I feel as if that’s insulting.” The taller man grabbed a handful of paper towels as he walked out of the kitchen.

 

“Considering _I’m_ the one teaching you, I’d say this,” Ryan raised the bag, “Is an accurate representation of my justice to the culture.” 

 

Shane wheezed, snagging his order, excitedly. “So, what’ve you got for me today, Teach?”

 

Ryan swallowed his mouthful of taco with a smile, “I figured I’d teach you how to ask a couple questions just in case you want to use them when we do our time apart. Okay?”

 

Shane nodded, taking a sip of his soda. 

 

“Alright,” Ryan picked up a napkin, “In case someone–”

 

“ _Someone_ , mhm.”

 

The shorter man rolled his eyes with a grumble, “Shut up, Shane.” 

 

Shane bit his bottom lip to hide his cheeky smirk.

 

“In case _someone_ or _something_ makes a sound, and you want to ensure it was reliable say ‘ _qué_.’”

 

“ _Qué._ It just means ‘what,’ right? _”_

 

“Yup!” Ryan took another bite of his food, “I figured it was just worth knowin. Next,”

 

Shane watched as Ryan retrieved a set of note cards from his pocket, small, illegible scribbles ran across them. 

 

This had become a bit of a thing since three weeks ago, they’d decided to meet up on Fridays and practice a bit of Spanish before inevitably getting sucked up into some conversation that was _not_ about the future video or Shane’s atrocious pronunciations.

It was nice to just get to hang out, they hadn’t been able to in a while. 

 

“ _Dónde estás?_ ” Ryan waited for a response, eyes still skimming his notes as he licked the salsa off his fingers, but none came.

 

Shane’s face wasn’t just warm, no, it was scalding, throat thick, and tongue heavy. He tried to say something, do _something_ to signal he was coherent, but he couldn’t stop staring. His thoughts were running a mile a minute. God, he must seem like such a weirdo.

 

“Shane?”

 

“Uhh,” His voice caught in his throat, cracking pitifully, and he coughed to hide the deepening redness in his cheeks, “Dóndayy _estás_?”

 

Ryan blinked, slowly, brows raised, “ _Dónde.”_

 

_“Dónde_. Got it, haha! Yeah, whoops.” Shane turned away, picking up his garbage and throwing it into the bin. He didn’t turn back around, he just let the bashful heat spread over him.

 

“Are you okay, man?” The voice was distant, a lost dream.

 

“Yeah!” Shane still didn’t move, his friend’s eyes were heavy on his shoulders, “…Fine.” The contrast in volume between the two words _definitely_ wasn’t helping his case. The first a defensive explosion, the second a weak whisper.

 

“Shane, talk to me, you seem… Off. Am I intruding? Should we stop these lessons?”

 

“No!” Shane spun around, his face still a bit flushed, “No. I-I think they're fun, I’m just tired. I think-I think I might be comin’ down with something.”

 

Ryan eyed him suspiciously, hands still clutching the note cards. His gaze ran up and down Shane, trying to inspect for any noticeable explanations as to why this whole thing was as odd as it was. “Uh, okay. Should I… Should I go? I don’t wanna stop you from getting your rest.”

 

He wanted to say ‘no!’, he wanted to say ‘Ryan, please stay,’ he wanted to explain ‘listen, dude, I’m having some strangely non-platonic thoughts about you, but I’ll get it under control. Let’s just chill!’. Instead, though, he swallowed the cotton balls that seemed to be clogging his throat and shakily said, “Yeah, I think that’s for the best tonight.”

 

Ryan’s tongue flickered over his bottom lip, again, his eyes a bit wider, a bit sadder, “No problem, man, sorry for forcing all this on you.” He began turning away, grabbing his jacket off the back of the chair, “I should’ve talked to you about it first.”

 

Shane stretched out his hand, but he was just too far to reach his friend, “Ryan–”

 

Ryan spun to face Shane, but continued backing towards the door, “You don’t have to do that, say it’s not my fault, I mean. I know I’ve been a bit much for this ep’s preparation. I’ll see you Monday, right?”

 

The taller man didn't say anything, too at a loss for words as he watched Ryan slip through his fingers and out the door. He tossed a wave over his head and clambered into the car. Shane didn’t leave the doorway, not until the car was long gone down the road, and his fingers started to feel the chill of the air.

 

God, he was really fucking this up. He _needed_ to fix this.

 

* * *

 

Kelsey wanted to grab margaritas at a small Mexican restaurant with some of the Buzzfeed gang, so instead of doing their usual Friday hangouts, Ryan suggested they go there and practice a few basic phrases. Shane tried to tell himself that Ryan just didn’t want to bum Kelsey out by not going, but he could tell that the real reason his friend had insisted they go was so Ryan could prove to himself that he wasn’t forcing Shane into an uncomfortable situation.

 

They hadn’t talked that much the past week, and, honestly, Shane felt like he was suffering from withdrawal. He felt generally shitty, but, on top of that, every time he saw Ryan his heart sped up like he was crashing. He would stare like Ryan was the cure to all his troubles, and yet he couldn't formulate a coherent sentence that didn’t either a. make him sound like a pining high schooler or b. make him come off as a dick.

So, he decided to keep his mouth shut. For better or worse, he wasn’t sure.

 

That’s why he was now here, walking into the ‘restaurant’ which was more bar than anything else. His hair was groomed and he had changed into a darker blue button down, something he rarely _ever_ bothered to do. His footsteps were distant, eyes scanning for his group. Hands clammy in his pockets.

 

Kelsey’s fluffy mane caught Shane’s eye first, her purple romper second. She had a dark plum lip proudly on display that made the smile she gave her boyfriend even brighter.

 

“Shane!” She grinned, waving him over. “Hey, man! Ryan’s been lookin’ for you, he’s by the bar.”

 

“Thanks.” He smiled, trying to hide the nerves bubbling in his chest. He wanted to say something to prove that Ryan didn’t need to feel guilty or whatever, but he also didn’t know how to do that without confessing that he was feeling… _less_ than heterosexual, at the moment.

 

“Heyyyy, big guy!” Ryan was tucked into the corner of the bar, a margarita in hand, and a few empty glasses of various sizes surrounding him.

 

“Hey, man, how’s it goin’? I heard you were lookin' for me.” Shane took the open barstool beside his friend, studying the rosy tint to his face.

 

Ryan snuggled deeper into his grey hoodie, his white cap hiding his eyes. “Ohhhh, yeah… I just wanted to spend time with my buddy!” There was a slight slur to his words that Shane could only assume was due to the contents of the now empty cups. “I just… I miss hangin’ out with ya, man! I thought teachin’ ya Ssspanish would, uhhhh, be funnnn… But I-I feel like I’ve been a bad friend.” He finally looked up from beneath the visor, his brown eyes wide and apologetic.

  
Shane leaned in, draping his arm over the bar, “What? Why?”

 

Ryan shrugged, sulkily, trying to avoid the heavy pressure of Shane’s gaze. “I dunno… I just… I feel like I haven’t let you do anything you _want_ to do. So _lo siento_.”He waited for a response, eyes dragging up to Shane’s, slowly, only to be met with furrowed brows and confused eyes, “Oh! That means I’m sorryyyy.”

 

Shane chuckled, placing a hand atop his friend’s, “Ryan… You don’t have to be sorry. I love spending time with you I just,” Shane bit his bottom lip, he could just… say it. Right now. 

He almost did, too, lips parting to reveal his truths, but then the logic sank back in. 

 

Ryan was drunk, drunk off his ass, and there were two logical ways this could go. 

The first would be that Ryan wouldn't even remember come tomorrow, and they’d have to do this whole thing over again. The second… the second would be that in this drunken stupor he wouldn’t take it well. Having a friend–gay or straight–tell you they like you when you obviously don’t reciprocate those feelings can wreck a friendship. Not to mention a _best_ friendship. If Ryan got overwhelmed or felt, God forbid, _betrayed_ while drunk, who knew what would happen?

 

“…I’ve had a lot on my mind, and all the stress makes me kinda weird. So, please don’t think this is your fault. I want you to come over next Friday and teach me some more Spanish.” Shane turned to pull his arm away, but Ryan stopped him, taking the arm and using it to pull the taller man into a hug.

 

“You’re the best, Shaneee!” Ryan’s touch was warm and electric, and Shane couldn’t help but let out an audible gasp.

 

He held his arms out, awkwardly, for a moment before returning the embrace. He tried to focus on the endearing wholesomeness of the moment and not the way his heart had begun hammering in his chest, not the way the redness was surely creeping across his cheeks.

 

Ryan didn’t move to pull away, simply snuggling into the taller man’s neck with a hot sigh, the warmth of which sent chills down Shane’s spine.

 

“Hey, Ryan… I’ve gotta… I’ve gotta head out, I have some, uh, stuff to catch up on early tomorrow.” 

 

“Okay,” Ryan pouted, sadly.

 

“Ry,”

 

“Yeah?”

 

Shane smiled down gently at his friend, “I need you to let me go.”

 

Ryan’s rosy flush grew brighter and he shook his head to hide his bashful smile, “Oh, haha, yeah.”

 

Shane caught Ryan’s gaze once more, a goodbye ready on his tongue, but those eyes… Those eyes, filled with summer constellations, stole the breath from his lungs. Those eyes, a blend of mocha coffee and autumn leaves, took the words from his mouth. Those eyes, a gentle reminder that through everything–film shoots and arguments and paperwork–they had each other, sent sparks all the way to his toes.

 

Fuck… He _really_ liked his best friend.

 

* * *

He had to tell him. 

Every day this week was like a taunting reminder that something was off. Ryan seemed less hurt but still distant, and Shane couldn’t stop replaying that fucking hug. It was just a bro™ moment, and yet every time he thought back on it he was fucking blushing again!

 

Shane suggested they meet at Ryan’s, that way when he was done thoroughly embarrassing himself he could escape. He didn’t need his very straight friend to feel uncomfortable in his presence any longer than necessary.

 

Fuck, what was he doing? Was this all worth risking the _very good_ thing they had going?

 

Shane shifted from foot to foot outside Ryan’s door, hand raised halfway. He could do this. He _could_.

 

Tentatively, he offered three knocks, his bottom lip held tightly between his teeth. 

 

“It’s open!” Ryan chirped.

 

Shane ran a hand through his wild hair before stepping into the small hallway. 

“Hey! Your roommates out?” Shane glanced around the empty living room, eyeing the movie posters that decorated the walls. 

 

“Hm? Oh, yeah, they went out to a friend’s party.” Ryan emerged from the kitchen, with a pair of beers. 

 

Shane nodded a wordless thank you, taking the beer from the shorter man. “You didn’t tag along?” 

 

He shrugged, “Nah, I had to teach my best pal some Español!” 

 

The pair ventured over to Ryan’s large grey sectional, asking casual questions about meetings and non-work related events. Ryan listened to Shane gush about an Arctic Monkeys’ concert, a gentle, dissociative glaze resting over his eyes.

 

Shane paused, letting the arm he had been flailing excitedly fall to his side, “What’s wrong, man?”

 

Ryan shrugged, “Did… Did I do something wrong? I know you said you liked doing these Spanish lessons and that you’ve just been stressed, but… it seemed like you were avoiding me all week and I can’t figure out what I did.”

 

Shane opened his mouth to speak, to mutter reassuring whispers, but his throat tightened. He had to say it. He had to.

 

“Ryan… Shit, I’m gonna screw this up, but… Bear with me, okay?” 

 

Ryan nodded slowly, brows drawn together and lips parted in a small ‘o.’ “Uh… Okay?”

 

Shane couldn’t bear the pressure of his gaze, eyes flickering down to his hands. He felt oddly quite small like this, “ _Me encantas,_ Ryan… _Me gustas… Mucho._ ” He took a shaky breath before risking a vulnerable glance at his friend.

 

Ryan’s mouth had gone from the small ‘o’ to a widen gape, eyes bright and stunned. “Do you… Do you know what you just said?”

 

Shane laughed nervously, “I talked to Curly, so… honestly, I’m not 100% sure, and my accent is, well… _horrid_ , but I think so.”

 

“You… You like me? Like… _Romantically_?” 

 

Shane chuckled, an anxious, shaky chuckle, “I, uh, yeah… Yeah, I do. And if you don’t like me, that’s chill, dude! Don’t worry about it! I just… _That_ is why I’ve been so weird lately… So, I’m sorry if this makes things weird, I totally understand if you don’t–”

 

Ryan hastily silenced Shane, pressing his lips against the taller man’s. The kiss was gentle, a delicate touch, and just as Ryan began to pull away Shane came to. He grasped a fistful of Ryan’s collar, pulling him in closer, their lips fitting together with a bit more ferocity than before. He clung to his friend like this was all a dream slipping through his grasp, the fervor of his movements showing his desperation.

Ryan’s head fell back with the pressure, a shaky, excited breath escaping him. His fingers curled into Shane’s hair, allowing his lips to part. They fought for dominance now like they did with all things, fully and with every intention of winning. 

Shane finally pulled away, his forehead resting against Ryan’s, “So…”

 

Their breaths were heavy, eyes fluttering open through a moonstruck haze,

“ _A mí también me gustas_ … I like you too, Shane.” Ryan grinned, a giddy giggle escaping him. “Fuck, man,” He sunk back into the couch, “I thought you were pissed at me or somethin… But you just had a lil crush on me!” The smug look on his face was unbearable.

 

“Oh, fuck you,” Shane muttered, but despite the venomous words his tone held nothing but genuine adoration and the kiss he planted on the shorter man’s lips was nothing short of tender.

**Author's Note:**

> @buzzzfeeedunsolved on tumblr!


End file.
